Trisulanathar Temple - Explore beyond Chennai Airport

Have you visited Chennai before? - Yes!

Have you ever been to Chennai airport? - Yes, absolutely! It's located in Trisulam.

That's great! What have you explored in Trisulam? - Well, besides the airport, there is a local railway station, but not much else to see in this urban area.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate! Trisulam is a historically significant location, boasting a Chola-era temple atop a hill adorned with exquisite sculptures and informative inscriptions. Intrigued? Keep reading!

(As a side note, I previously wrote about this temple ten years ago on my blog. This article includes additional information I gathered during my recent revisit to the site.)

Introduction

Trisulam, a southern suburb of Chennai, is located approximately 10 km from Guindy. At the heart of the locality stands a magnificent temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as Trisulanathar. This temple, with its exquisite Koshta sculptures, is located on top of a hill and is just 2 km away from the Chennai Airport.

Unfortunately, the temple's beauty is now marred by encroachments that surround it in all directions. At the end of this article, you can find the Google Map coordinates for this historical and culturally significant site.

Legend

Every temple in Tamil Nadu has an associated legend, and Trisulanathar temple is no exception. According to the legend, Brahma, the creator god, visited this place and created a pond to aid his creative work. He installed a Linga (a representation of Lord Shiva) near the pond and worshipped it, receiving Lord Shiva's grace. As a result, this town was called Brahmapuri, and Trisulanathar was originally named Brahmapureeswarar.

The region between the hills is called "Churam." Lord Shiva is known as the 'Trichuram Udaiya Nayanar' as this temple is situated amid four hills. Later, it became 'Trishulanatha'. It is believed that Brahma worshipped the four Vedas around the Linga and turned them into mountains. 

History

Among 14 inscriptions in the temple, 13 are from the Cholas, and the remaining one is from Pandya. The earliest inscription is from Kulottunga Chola I. There is a high possibility that he would have rebuilt the original Pallava-era apsidal (Gajaprshtha) temple in granite in the 11th century CE. 

(I understand that there is another inscription in this temple recorded in A.R.E 1938 and an inscription from Parthivendira Pallava found in Egmore Museum refers to this temple. However, I could not get the content of those inscriptions. Hence, those details are missing in my article.)

As per the inscriptions, Trisulam was called Divakara Chatur Vedi Mangalam of Churattur Nadu, a sub-division of Kulottunga Chola Valanaadu or Puliyur Kottam, a division of Jayankonda Cholamandalam. It was also called Vanavanmaadevi Chatur Vedi Mangalam of Pallapuram. 

Inscription # 1

Reference - A.R. No. 315 of 1901
Location - On the south wall of the sanctum
Period - 1073 CE; 3rd year of the reign of the King mentioned below
King - Kulottunga Chola I
Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of paddy for offerings.

Inscription # 2

Reference - A.R. No. 317 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1108 CE; 38th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Kulottunga Chola I

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of 24 sheep for two lamps.

Inscription # 3

Reference - A.R. No. 312 of 1901

Location - On the north wall of the sanctum

Period - 1109 CE; 39th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Kulottunga Chola I

Language- Tamil

The inscription states that Tribhuvana Chakravarti Konerimaikondan alias Sungamthavirththa Kulottunga Chola Deva granted the village Munnalur, changing its name as Tiruneetruch Cholanallur, to the temple.

Inscription # 4

Reference - A.R. No. 316 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - Date lost

King - Kulottunga Chola I

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the sale of land.

Inscription # 5

Reference - A.R. No. 322 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1124 CE; 6th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Vikrama Chola 

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of 12 sheep for a lamp.

Inscription # 6

Reference - A.R. No. 314 of 1901

Location - On the west wall of the sanctum

Period - 1127 CE; 9th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Vikrama Chola

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the sale of land in Perurnaattu Manarpakkam. It should be noted that they indicate the current-day localities Porur and Manappakkam in Chennai. 

Inscription # 7

Reference - A.R. No. 324 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - Date lost

King - Vikrama Chola

Language- Tamil

It is an incomplete record.

Inscription # 8

Reference - A.R. No. 318 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1132 CE; 14th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Vikrama Chola

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the sale of land.

Inscription # 9

Reference - A.R. No. 320 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1166 CE; 16th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Rajaraja Chola II

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of sheep for lamps.

Inscription # 10

Reference - A.R. No. 321 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1177 CE; 4th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Rajadhirajadeva Chola I

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of 31 cows and one bull for a lamp by a person named Rajaraja Malayarayan. 

Inscription # 11

Reference - A.R. No. 319 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1177 CE; 4th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Rajadhirajadeva Chola I

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of three cows for a lamp.

Inscription # 12

Reference - A.R. No. 313 of 1901

Location - On the north wall of the sanctum

Period - 1209 CE; 31st year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Kulottunga Chola III

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of ten buffalos for a lamp by a person named Chittirameli Malaiyarappan.

Inscription # 13

Reference - A.R. No. 311 of 1901

Location - On the west wall of the sanctum

Period - 1215 CE; 37th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Kulottunga Chola III

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gifts given by the merchants of Pundamalli alias Uyyakondan Cholapuram. It mentions the king as Tribhuvana Vira Deva. 

Inscription # 14

Reference - A.R. No. 323 of 1901

Location - On the south wall of the sanctum

Period - 1306 CE; 38th year of the reign of the King mentioned below

King - Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandya I 

Language- Tamil

The inscription records the gift of 32 cows for a lamp.

Presiding Deity

The main deity of the temple is a large and wide Shiva Linga situated in the apsidal-shaped sanctum facing the east. The Linga is known as Trisulanathar and is also called Brahmapureeswarar, Dharmapureeswarar or Tiruchchuramudaiya Nayanar.

The temple has two Goddesses. Swarnambika is situated with Trisulanatha in the sanctum and is depicted with golden arms. According to hearsay, she is the original Goddess, and her arm got damaged during an invasion. The temple authorities made a new icon of the Goddess, but she appeared in their dream and instructed them not to replace her. Consequently, they made golden arms for her and placed her in her original position next to the Shiva Linga.

The newly made icon of the Goddess is placed in a separate shrine facing south. She is called Tripura Sundari and is portrayed standing with four arms, holding an aksha mala and lotus in her upper arms, which is unique from other Goddess icons.

Koshta Murtis

The outer walls of the sanctum exhibit exquisite Koshta Murtis from the Chola era, adorned with toranas that feature intricate miniature sculptures.

The first Koshta Murti is Naga Yagnopavita Ganapati, depicted in a seated posture with a serpent serving as his sacred thread. The torana above portrays the battle between Vali and Sugreeva in great detail.

The second Koshta Murti, Utkutika asana Dakshinamurti, is also unique. He is shown seated in the posture in reversal style of Ayyanar's iconography, stamping Muyalakan with his right leg and with his left leg drawn up and resting on the seat. His two disciples are depicted with their arms in chin mudra instead of the traditional anjali mudra. The torana above displays miniature sculptures of Somaskanda.

On the west-side niche, a beautiful sculpture of Lingodbhava is seen. Brahma is depicted as a flying swan while Vishnu appears in the form of a boar, animatedly digging the ground below. The torana above features Rishabantika murti - Shiva with Uma and his vahana Nandi, vividly depicting the entire story of Lingodbhava.

The north side boasts two stunningly beautiful Koshta Murtis - Brahma and Vishnu Durga. Above them, Ardhanareeswara and Kaliya Nardana Krishna are depicted in miniature sculptures within the Makara torana. Unlike the usual icons of Ardhanaree, here, the female part of this icon holds a conch similar to Vishnu. 

A delightful row of miniature Bhutas (Bhuta vari) can be seen under the prastara (entablature). Miniature relief images such as Kannappa Nayanar, Brahma worshiping Shiva Linga, Vali worshiping Shiva Linga and others are found above the cornice (Kodungai).

Veenadhara Dakshinamuri, Yoga Narasimha and Brahma are the Greeva Koshta murtis. 

Other Deities

Located in the inner prakara are the sub-shrines of Sreenivasa Perumal with his consorts, Ganesha, Shanmukha with his consorts, and Muthukumara Swami with his consorts. The icon of Muthukumara Swami is a beautiful representation from the Nayaka period.

In a separate shrine, one can find Nataraja and Sivakami, while other deities such as Nalvar, Chandikeshwara, Bhairava, Vishwanatha Linga and Vishalakshi, Markandeya Shiva Linga (Shodasa Linga with 16 stripes), Surya, and Chandra are dispersed throughout the temple.

Ganesha and Kartikeya are situated at the entrances of Ardha mandapa and Mukha mandapa.

The temple, which faces eastward, does not have a tower (gopura), but has a flagstaff with the image of Kodi mara Vinayaka. Bali peetham and Nandi mandapa face toward the sanctum.

The pillars of Mukha mandapa feature many carvings, including a remarkable sculpture of the two-headed Sarbeshwara holding Narasimha in his arms without his typical wings. This mandapa dates back to the Nayaka period or a later era.

Within the outer prakara, there are several holy trees, each with a few icons such as Ganesha, an old Bhairava sculpture, and a white-colored marble seated Shiva under them.

Ayyappa, Adi Shankara with his four disciples, and Navagraha are among the deities found in separate sub-shrines in the outer prakara.

Brahma Teertham, the holy tank, is located a short distance from the temple grounds and can be reached after passing through several encroachments.

Happy travelling.